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Views on Marketing Trends and StrategySun, 18 Mar 2018 22:53:36 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/https://s2.wp.com/i/buttonw-com.pngCMO Perspectiveshttps://cmoviews.wordpress.com
Influencers Becoming Marketershttps://cmoviews.wordpress.com/2017/05/10/influencers-becoming-marketers/
https://cmoviews.wordpress.com/2017/05/10/influencers-becoming-marketers/#respondWed, 10 May 2017 13:05:36 +0000http://cmoviews.wordpress.com/?p=543Just when you got rolling on your Influencer Marketing Strategy, it turns out this is another thing that us Marketers ruin…

You-Economy

Dubbed the era of the solo-preneur, and the You-Economy, many individuals are seeking to build their own brand. These individuals are hearing about the ‘millions’ being made by influencer rock-stars and want the same for themselves.

As they go out to become an influencer in a certain niche, an interesting development is occuring…

Swarms of Influencers

More and more influencers are getting into the social sphere, and as a result, they are promoting brands to their circle of friends and family. These smaller influencers, micro-influencers, have a smaller circle of their friends and family. So when they promote a brand or a product, their inner circle is the primary recipient.

Defining Influencers

Before diving in more, let me pause to define influencer marketing for the purposes of this article. We are likely familiar with traditional influencers, celebrity endorsements such as:

Selena Gomez, Kylie Jenner, Kim Kardashian who garner millions of Likes and can charge $20,000 for a single Tweet.

Then there are other layers of influencers that are not celebrities but still manage to have a lot of followers, in the 50,000 to 200,000 range.

And now, with micro-influencers, you have a growing population of influencers that are in the few thousand follower range. This growth is with lower barriers to entry, thanks to tools available within platforms such as Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter and also through third-party applications that allow these influencers to manage their brands and the related monetization opportunities.

Influencing Friends

Previously, if your ‘techie’ friend would tell you about the new Samsung phone, you would believe they had researched the product and genuinely were recommending it. In this new era of influencers and brand ambassadors, can friends still rely on the recommendation? Or will they have to second-guess their friend’s true intentions?

An example of an influencer who is being rebuked by their followers shows that this backlash is already present.

You can see that while this influencer took a lot of time to put this post together, the comments from followers were critical. Unfortunately, there is still a learning curve for newer entrants in the influencer arena.

While celebrity and mainstream influencers understand the rules of the game, namely how one goes about properly disclosing their sponsors, newer entrants may not be aware of these guidelines. The repercussions aren’t limited to just an upset audience.

The FTC Weighs In

In April 2017, the FTC decided to reach out directly to nearly 100 Instagram influencers warning them about proper disclosure. Terms such as “#sp” (sponsored post) are not sufficient, nor is pushing down the approved terms such as “#sponsored” or “#ad” below line 3 acceptable (a trick that requires clicking ‘more’ to view the entire post).

#Awkward Posts by Friends

So imagine that you are going through your feed of posts by your friends and start seeing more and more “#ad” posts… There is a very likely possibility that friends keep promoting one anothers’ brands to help one another and the authenticity of truly recommending a product gets lost.

While criticism is part of the social media ecosystem, this trend of local and micro-influencers is creating a new dynamic between real world friends. Is it possible that people you trusted, can no longer be trusted thanks to a marketing sponsored relationship?

This Could Happen

While there is still a lot of room for growth for influencer marketing, and an opportunity for the everyday citizen to become a local influencer, as marketers, and as a society, we should look at the direction of where things are headed. We should ask ourselves if this is what we really intended to do, and whether word of mouth is going to be ruined by marketers.

Going With the Flow

As marketers, do we really have the ability to ‘influence’ what is happening here? Not really. We still have to leverage influencer marketing as a legitimate form of building and engaging our audience. After all, influencer marketing brings third party credibility that augments customer testimonials to give potential customers peace of mind that they can believe in what the brand is saying.

Beyond this benefit, influencer and celebrity endorsements work. Research has found that millennials and Gen Z do have increased brand loyalty when exposed to influencers. Collective Bias, which measures influencer marketing effectiveness, commissioned a report, along with Inmar and Placed, finding that influencer campaigns (in CPG) outperformed control groups online and resulted in foot-traffic in retail stores. Given that influencer marketing is driving sales, don’t expect this practice to slow down any time soon.

However, we can all self-regulate ourselves, and our influencers, to ensure we aren’t misleading the public, or our friends.

Tech City UK announced 33 UK based startups joining its Upscale program – which is a 6 month accelerator and mentoring program. Over the course of this year, you can expect more UK based businesses to take inspiration from the growth and activity of these companies across the UK.

With more trade talks coming up, more and more talk is coming of businesses expanding into the U.S. and vice versa. The key is building a solid foundation and then scaling to markets that represent the best opportunities (from a time to market, and ease of entry perspective).

The Upscale program has a blend of geographical and category diversity…

A third of the companies were based outside of London, including:

Cambridge

Liverpool

Manchester

Nottingham

More notable is the emergence of more growth and activity in Manchester – keep an eye here and in Birmingham.

In terms of the types of businesses, these include:

EdTech

MedTech

FinTech

eCommerce

IoT

Overall, at least 12 distinct categories represented by these businesses.

You can read more about these companies, such as Grabyo, on the Tech City UK website.

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]]>https://cmoviews.wordpress.com/2017/05/07/uk-startups-accelerate-in-2017/feed/0aaeaaqaaaaaaaagkaaaajdmwzte4m2u4ltfhogutndywzi05ndc4lwrkotnhnwnhnza4ywzainubaliaaeaaqaaaaaaaagkaaaajdmwzte4m2u4ltfhogutndywzi05ndc4lwrkotnhnwnhnza4ywProsumers, Makers, Influencershttps://cmoviews.wordpress.com/2017/04/28/prosumers-makers-influencers/
https://cmoviews.wordpress.com/2017/04/28/prosumers-makers-influencers/#respondFri, 28 Apr 2017 14:01:10 +0000http://cmoviews.wordpress.com/?p=441This is certainly an interesting era for brands. There is talk of “Makers”, “Prosumers” (producers who are also consumers), and of course “Influencers.” It’s all part of a massive growth in user generated content (UGC).

How does this affect brands?

This isn’t a new trend. Some of these Influencers have been at it for almost a decade, starting with the early bloggers. Let’s look at each of these groups and the impact for brands.

Prosumers

“Prosumers” are a growing population of users who create content and also fall into the consumer category. You can refer to them as Consumers, or Prosumers, or Loyalists. Examples abound from the people who add reviews on Amazon to those who fill up our feeds on Facebook.

While their following may be small, they have high engagement and trust within their circle of friends and followers.

While most people enjoy using Facebook to scroll and consume content others create, these Prosumers are actively expressing their POV (point of view). This can have an influential effect on those who read their content.

Of course, Prosumers enjoy being an authority and a go-to resource, but they have not gotten to the point of professional Influencers.

Brands need to recognize who these Prosumers are, engage them, and collaborate with them to help with brand perception, differentiation, and loyalty. At a minimum, brands should enable them by providing shareable content and a platform for them to express their views. You can learn a lot from their feedback and the feedback they may inspire from others.

Influencers

Influencers are becoming a critical audience for a brand. This is a group that needs to be engaged, and brands should be actively looking to collaborate with a number of, and a mix of, Influencers. Most brands may not have the means to get celebrity endorsements, so there are a number of Influencers, and levels of Influencers they can engage.

Top-tier Influencers and those we typically just think of as ‘Influencers’ have a large following. Typically at least 200,000 followers on their primary platform. The next level of ‘mid-tier’ Influencers (for lack of a better term) are in the 50,000 – 200,000 follower category. Then you have micro-Influencers – more of the up and coming Influencers that tend to be in the 1,000 – 10,000 follower range. All of them share the common attribute of making a major component of their living from engaging with brands within a certain category. Most are specialized and in a niche. As you go up from micro-Influencer to traditional Influencer, the main difference is the rate you would pay as a brand to engage them and the sophistication, as well as the parameters to work within. Since this group is working for your brand, the FCC also requires appropriate disclosure in their endorsements.

Joe Wicks, for example, has 1.8M Instagram followers and ranks in the Top 10 Fitness Influencers.

While a brand can start with Prosumers – the marketing team at your company needs to have a very deliberate plan for working with Influencers. The importance of testimonials and third party credibility is crucial, especially in distinguishing your brand. With so many companies offering similar products and the barriers-to-entry falling in almost every category, a trustworthy brand is certainly one of the top distinctions you can leverage. You can build reliability by gaining the trust of Influencers.

Makers

The category of Makers is probably the farthest afield from what I’ve been looking at, following, and reading. However, this is a group that really helps us see where society is headed, and our culture. Essentially, anyone is a Maker. Casey Neistat, a YouTube star, summarizes it best in this Samsung spot.

Essentially, we are seeing a demographic where anyone can be a singer, a producer, a film maker. The barriers to creation and broadcasting are gone and the quality of production is not important to much of this audience. In fact, a polished ad would turn this millennial audience away.

As a brand, you’ll want to monitor what these makers are producing and saying about your brand. They may turn into Prosumers or into Influencers.

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]]>https://cmoviews.wordpress.com/2017/04/28/prosumers-makers-influencers/feed/0banner user generated contentTheDinManuser generated reviewsugc badgesugc review helpfuljoe wicksDigital Marketing Bookshttps://cmoviews.wordpress.com/2017/04/28/digital-marketing-books/
https://cmoviews.wordpress.com/2017/04/28/digital-marketing-books/#respondFri, 28 Apr 2017 13:21:28 +0000http://cmoviews.wordpress.com/?p=246This is a list of digital marketing books – part of the series of books I’ve read over the last 18 months. This is originally where I started going through a lot of marketing related books as I tried to ramp up on my knowledge of becoming more advanced in facebook, SEO, etc.

Killer Facebook Ads:

Master Cutting-Edge Facebook Advertising Techniques

Author: Marty Weintraub

Ultimate Guide to Facebook Advertising:

How to Access 1 Billion Potential Customers in 10 Minute

Author: Thomas Meloche

Performance Marketing with Google Analytics:

Strategies and Techniques for Maximizing Online ROI

Author: Justin Cutroni

Complete B2B Online Marketing

Author: Maura Ginty

Inbound Marketing:

Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs

Author: Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah

Precision Marketing:

Maximizing Revenue Through Relevance

Author: Sandra Zoratti, Lee Gallagher

The YouTube Marketing Book

Author: James Wedmore

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]]>https://cmoviews.wordpress.com/2017/04/28/digital-marketing-books/feed/0DM 2zainubaliDM 1DM 2DM 3DM 4DM 5.jpgDM 6.jpgDM 9.jpgRetail Changes – Bebe Shutting Downhttps://cmoviews.wordpress.com/2017/04/21/retail-changes-bebe-shutting-down/
https://cmoviews.wordpress.com/2017/04/21/retail-changes-bebe-shutting-down/#respondFri, 21 Apr 2017 22:52:53 +0000http://cmoviews.wordpress.com/?p=372With pressures in the retail experience and changes in consumer behavior, we see one more retailer shutting down. California based Bebe, founded over 40 years ago, has just announced a complete shut down of its retail stores (mostly mall based).

The Facts on Bebe

Bebe will be shutting down all 175 (168 according to WSJ) stores by May 2017 – a rather immediate and decisive action. This will likely impact 2,327 part-time employees that are tied to the stores. Speculation is that with its $60M in cash, it will continue operating an online only model.

Following Other Retailers

There is a growing list of American retailers filing for bankruptcy and shedding retail, brick and mortar operations including Limited Stores, BCBG, and American Apparel.

Competitive Pressures

Pressures from competitors, including Zara which is surging and has a dynamic competitive advantage in time to market; and H&M which has celebrity endorsements are just some of the major players impacting Bebe.

The Amazon Boomerang

In quite the irony… first… Amazon having a deep impact on the retail industry (as witnessed by this and similar situations, as well as my observations simply walking around NYC’s empty ‘for lease’ signs).

As stores shutter, the irony is that Amazon is opening its own brick and mortar stores, with unique models in shopping, dynamic pricing, and checkout. So it isn’t really about brick and mortar being bad… it is about the retail experience.

Is the U.S. Market Slowing Down?

So is the U.S. market in trouble? Not really… British brands such as Top Shop, Primark, Reiss, The White Company are all jumping into the U.S. and see growth opportunity.

The Retail Experience

There is an absolute change in consumer behavior – much of it stemming from the changing demographics. Retailers who aren’t able to understand the change in customer mindset are going to perish. Customer experience, and specifically the retail experience must become a major focus to adapt to changes in the way people buy. Experience is becoming more important.

As more retailers come to terms with competing in an omni-channel environment, it is a combination of engaging their audience, providing a retail experience, and offering a product that resonates with the audience that will help retailers compete and win going forward.

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]]>https://cmoviews.wordpress.com/2017/04/21/retail-changes-bebe-shutting-down/feed/0October retail sales for Bebe, a wemans closthing store chain, which has been on a hot streak, was oTheDinManOctober retail sales for Bebe, a wemans closthing store chain, which has been on a hot streak, was oCustomer Experience Bookshttps://cmoviews.wordpress.com/2017/04/20/customer-experience-books/
https://cmoviews.wordpress.com/2017/04/20/customer-experience-books/#respondThu, 20 Apr 2017 15:01:11 +0000http://cmoviews.wordpress.com/?p=327CX (Customer Experience) is a crucial area. I initiated a new department around CX after starting to read up and listen to some podcasts on the topic. Below are the books I’ve found useful as part of my series of articles on books I’ve read in the last 18 months.

The Experience Economy:

Work Is Theater & Every Business a Stage

Author: B. Joseph Pine II, James H. Gilmor

The Effortless Experience:

Conquering the New Battleground for Customer Loyalty

Author: Matthew Dixon, Rick DeLisi, Nick Toman

The Customer Rules:

The 39 Essential Rules for Delivering Sensational Service

Author: Lee Cockerell

(I wasn’t really a big fan of this one – if you are debating reading it over another.)

Customer Obsession:

How to Acquire, Retain, and Grow Customers in the New Age of Relationship Marketing

Author: Abaete de Azevedo, Ricardo Pomeranz

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]]>https://cmoviews.wordpress.com/2017/04/20/customer-experience-books/feed/0CXzainubaliCX.jpgcx 1.jpgcx 2.jpg41FDvvet-3L._SX329_BO1,204,203,200_.jpgBranding & Storytelling Bookshttps://cmoviews.wordpress.com/2017/04/20/branding-storytelling-books/
https://cmoviews.wordpress.com/2017/04/20/branding-storytelling-books/#respondThu, 20 Apr 2017 15:00:40 +0000http://cmoviews.wordpress.com/?p=288As part of the series of posts on books I’ve been going through over the last 18 months – I’ve categorized them. This particular category is interesting in that it has a mix of some really academic work, normal storytelling books, some normal branding books, and then a humor element and some experimentation I did with getting into stand up comedy.

The Hero and the Outlaw:

Building Extraordinary Brands Through the Power of Archetypes

Author: Margaret Mark

The Hero with a Thousand Faces

Author: Joseph Campbell

The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing:

Violate Them at Your Own Risk!

Author: Jack Trout

The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding

Author: Al Ries, Laura Ries

StoryBranding 2.0:

Creating Stand-Out Brands Through the Purpose of Story

Author: Jim Signorelli

The Storyteller’s Secret:

How the World’s Most Inspiring Leaders Turn Their Passion Into Performance

Author: Carmine Gallo

Winning the Story Wars:

Why Those Who Tell – and Live – the Best Stories Will Rule the Future

Author: Jonah Sachs

Stand-Out:

How to Find Your Breakthrough Idea and Build a Following Around It

Author: Dorie Clark

The Cheeky Monkey

Author: Tim Ferguson

Stand-up Comedy:

Author: Judy Carter

Comedy Writing Secrets:

The Best-Selling Book on How to Think Funny, Write Funny, Act Funny, And Get Paid For It

Author: Melvin Helitzer

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]]>https://cmoviews.wordpress.com/2017/04/20/branding-storytelling-books/feed/0b3zainubalib3.jpgb9.jpgDM 7.jpgDM 8.jpgb8.jpgb6b4.jpgB1.jpgb2.jpgb5b7Books on Content Marketinghttps://cmoviews.wordpress.com/2017/04/18/books-on-content-marketing/
https://cmoviews.wordpress.com/2017/04/18/books-on-content-marketing/#respondTue, 18 Apr 2017 06:21:32 +0000http://cmoviews.wordpress.com/?p=133As part of the series of posts on books I’ve read and wanted to share… this post covers content marketing as a broad category.

Youtility:

Why Smart Marketing Is about Help Not Hype

Author: Jay Baer

Resonate:

Present visual stories that transform audiences

Author: Nancy Duarte

Content Marketing For Dummies

Author: Susan Gunelius

Global Content Marketing:

How to Create Great Content, Reach More Customers, and Build a Worldwide Marketing Strategy that Works

The White Company is one of the U.K.’s fastest growing retailers. Revenues exceed $200M USD and it has presence in over 50 markets in the UK.

What is The White Company

The multi-channel retailer’s line encompasses: home accessories, such as candles, tableware and vases; beauty – skincare collection – fragrance, bath and body, alongside an impressive clothing range that includes the softest cashmere sweaters, luxurious loungewear and stylish dresses and accessories.

Expansion Approach

The White Company started over 20 years ago in the late 1990s with a 12 page mail order catalog. It launched a U.S. ecommerce site in 2014, a solid 3 years prior to making the move to have a brick and mortar retail presence in the U.S.

The first flagship store is coming to Fifth Avenue in New York City. From NY, plans currently look like they will expand from this radius into neighboring states.

More UK Retailers in US

As different brands such as TopShop, Reiss, and The White Company enter the US market – it is interesting to see the approach each one takes. Whether it is the example on one extreme from Tesco’s stumble or the more successful example of food chain Pret a Manger – there is a big appetite for British brands to expand into the U.S.

Tesco spent a lot of prep work, did a lot of research and yet was unable to make a successful entry despite all the capital it had at its disposal. Given this, smaller brands might take pause – but again, with the successful examples of many other brands – it is key to understand your audience and take a measured approach. I like The White Company’s use of ecommerce as a ‘dipping the toe in the water’ test before entering the market – though I think it is quite conservative to take three years to build up the case to make a solid presence. In the tech space, time is not always on your side – and first mover advantages can at times lock out other competitors.

I expect to see an acceleration of brands entering, thanks to large brands making public entrances and in the case of The White Company, giving a transparency of their approach.

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]]>https://cmoviews.wordpress.com/2017/04/16/british-retailers-entering-us/feed/0white co 2TheDinManwhite co 2white co 1white co 4white co 3Books on Buying Behavior, Psychologyhttps://cmoviews.wordpress.com/2017/04/13/books-on-buying-behavior-psychology/
https://cmoviews.wordpress.com/2017/04/13/books-on-buying-behavior-psychology/#respondThu, 13 Apr 2017 21:20:04 +0000http://cmoviews.wordpress.com/?p=160I never thought I’d be reading about cognitive neuroscience, System 1 and System 2, heuristics, social psychology, and behavioral economics … let alone scores of books on the subject but this is one area that has truly fascinated me. Below are books I’ve found interesting and worth sharing. This really helps look at why people buy, how brands can differentiate, and what approaches a company can take to enhance its go-to-market strategy.

Hooked:

How to Build Habit-Forming Products

Author: Nir Eyal

Predictably Irrational:

The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions

Author: Dan Ariely

Designing Brand Identity:

An Essential Guide for the Whole Branding Team

Author: Alina Wheeler

Pre-Suasion:

A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade

Author: Robert Cialdini

Influence:

The Psychology of Persuasion

Author: Robert B. Cialdini

The Science of Selling:

Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal